A Blog on McConnell Center Life

As many know, I am no technocrat. I am more of a luddite. So, I hope I am even blogging in the right place. Oh well. I'm going to spend my blog time remeniscing on the joys of the semesterly camping trip with Dr. Kleber. Dr. Kleber is not only important to me, but he is also important to the McConnell Center. His steadfast congeniality and deep widsom always facilitates growth for everybody. Saturday morning at 8 a.m. came around very quickly...too quickly. There are few things that can roll me out of bed that early on a Saturday. Luckily, going camping with Dr. Kleber and fellow scholars is one of them. We all sat around the thinker, slightly shivering, yet enjoying the Krispie Kreme donuts that Dr. Kleber got for us. We then headed out. The van rides are alway fun. Something I have come to value about the McConnell Center is the conversations I have with scholars outside the lectures and the seminars. We talk about everything...from love lives to global warming to rel...

The fires burned brightly all over town, Not a soul cared enough to turn around, Pages that defined history and all previous life, The perils of ancestor’s internal strife, No longer matter in an age like this, Citizens strive for ignorance, for it brings bliss. If newspapers tell what they don’t want to hear, Then why listen, when they can turn a deaf ear? Panem et circensus , distractions bring true joy, Happiness is found in technology and all of its toys. For when the voices of the television surround my brain, I can forget the real world and all of its pain. The books and words only serve as a reminder, But why read those? The pictures on the screen are much kinder. Keep moving, faster, if you stop the words could catch up, and cause you to think, drag you back into history’s rut. Push a button, flip a switch, take me away, I’d much rather live life watching someone else’s day. The screen is immediate, tells me what I need to know, Books say too much, the words ...

“Beholding beauty with the eye of the mind, he will be enabled to bring forth, not images of beauty, but realities (for he has hold not of an image but of a reality), and bringing forth and nourishing true virtue to become the friend of God and be immortal, if mortal man may.” This is the ideal kind of love laid out in Plato’s symposium in my opinion. Socrates brings us away from the idea of love in the purely sexual form (eros) but love that is a guide to find beauty. And not normal beauty, but knowledge and a soul that is working to serve some greater good. Love that gives birth to knowledge and new ideas is something Socrates values more than love that merely leads to children. Symposium makes you think about what kind of love you most value in your life. The problem with reading Plato alone, and not hearing everyone argue about it in seminar, is that I am compelled to believe what he writes. But this time, I’m not sure. Do we have to choose the best type of love? And though ...

It is hard to believe that my time in the McConnell Program has come to a close. Although I chose to graduate a year early I cannot believe that three whole years have gone by. When making the decision, I thought that this third year would last forever but instead it has flown by. Through this program I have met my best friends and I will miss each and every one of these scholars when I leave. Although I am excited about moving on to the next stage in my life I will never forget the influence these people have had on my life and how much they have meant to me. I knew on our first trip to Washington, D.C. before our freshman year, that the other 9 scholars in my class were going to provide me with lots of laughs and friendship throughout college. They all hold a special place in my heart and I hope to always keep in touch with them. I am looking forward to my trip to China with them this summer and I know that we will create many more lasting memories while we're traveling togethe...

The shift from high school to college can be a wild ride. A lot of the constants that you held to throughout your high school career are going to stripped away, and there will be times when you feel naked without them. However, you select few are McConnell Scholars, and this program and the people in it will soon prove themselves to be not only a constant, but an amazing time in your life. As someone who has just finished his last final, and, thus, his freshman year of college, let me give you my advice for your year as Freshman McConnells. 1. Listen to Sherry. Sure, she may seem mean sometimes, and sometimes you may think she doesn't like you, but if you're in the program, that means she at least likes you a little bit. Sherry knows what needs to be done and is only delegating tasks to you so that the Center can run more smoothly. Plus, it will help you avoid The Look, and no one wants their soul crushed by The Look. 2. Be proud, but not cocky. It is an amazing honor to be a ...

During my time as a McConnell Scholar at the University of Louisville, I have had the opportunity to engage distinguished world leaders -- Republicans, Democrats, liberals, conservatives, and everything in between have graced the halls of the McConnell Center with their presence. Regardless of one's political leanings, these interactions have shown me the value in seeing beyond one's political beliefs and value systems, and recognizing that leadership skills extend beyond partisanship. Though I disagree with America's 67th Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on nearly every political issue, Secretary Clinton was perhaps the most engaging speaker I have had the opportunity to interact with during my three years as a McConnell Scholar. Secretary Clinton's speech, her demeanor, and her responses to questions provided insight into why Secretary Clinton will arguably be remembered as one of the most influential American women in the history of our country. Secretary Cl...

Throughout my short time here, I have watched the University expand, change and become a better institution; I have watched development that will land the University of Louisville among the very best in America. The academic strength of our McConnell class illustrates the success of our University. Three of us have received Fulbrights to study in Sri Lanka, Argentina, and Thailand. One of us will graduate as the Top Business School student this year, and another as the Top Arts and Sciences Student. The University as a whole has received 13 Fulbrights with five to still be determined. This number places us among the very best academic institutions in the world, surpassing Georgetown, Dartmouth and Cornell. The University faculty commit countless hours of time helping students develop proposals and applications that ultimately land the highest academic awards, from Fulbrights to a Rhodes. The University of Louisville is a unique institution: the community that this city provides, ...

Eleven score and fifteen years ago, one of America’s greatest orators declared, without hesitation, that “there [was] a just God who preside[d] over the destines of nations, and who [would] raise up friends to fight our battles for us.” Today, few could imagine an American leader delivering that exhortation. Fewer still would refer to the United States as engaged in the “holy cause of liberty.” Nonetheless, for our founding generation, no intellectual dichotomy existed between the state and her reliance on religious piety; no ill-constructed wall separated religion from state. Throughout the history of the United States, religion has proven to be “more than just words or an abstract idea; it’s a symbol. A symbol of who and what we are . . . It’s the bedrock and foundation of everything we believe” (Lake, Paul. Cry Wolf: A Political Fable , 145). In April, 2010, the McConnell Center hosted Dr. Thomas Kidd of Baylor University who argued precisely that point. Our founding gen...

I think that taking the trip to New Harmony was the best way that we could have ended this year throughout which we have been discussing utopias and dystopias. Over the years and to the current day, New Harmony has been the site of three different sets of utopias. It began as a religious community, with its members striving to prepare themselves for the end of the world. In this religious community, which was inhabited by the Harmonists, all people worked for the betterment of the town with a Protestant work ethic. Eventually the Harmonists sold the land in Indiana and moved to their colonies in Pennsylvania. New Harmony was then bought by Robert Owen and William Maclure, beginning what is known in the town as the Owen period. At this point, New Harmony became a scientific utopia, with researchers from across the country and the world, especially geologists, coming to Indiana in order to live in a social utopia and work in a scientific community with the greatest of their peers. ...

Plato's Symposium is regarded as one of the greatest philosophical dialogues of all time as well as one of the greatest texts of all time. It is definitely something that is worth reading and I feel that this blog is better late, if there is such a thing for Plato, than never. The word eros is used within Plato's Symposium but the meaning of word is not always clear. We have seen eros used before by authors such as Homer to mean simply appetite as well as in other texts to represent a strong desire for. In most cases, however, we tend to translate the word to mean "love" in the sense of "in love with" or "to fall in love" as in the sexual desires of another. With this translation, we see the debate of this word in Plato's Symposium . The debate stems from the translation of this word and the meaning of it in the dialogue. In simple, is this the discussion of love in the natural, human, emotional sense of the word, or is this the discussion o...

Although this topic is not something that we have discussed in the McConnell Center, I recently read an article about success in finding a career and names and believe it applies to one of our core goals at the Center: leadership. Are leadership abilities restricted to a name? Do we subconsciously attach leadership abilities to a name? The NY Times recently reported that women who take their husbands names make $400,000 less over their lifetimes than women who keep their names after marriage. Women who take the name of their husband are also viewed as older, less educated, and unmotivated than women who kept their maiden names. Also, the article stated that people with more ethnic names or unique spellings may find it more difficult to land a good job. The most basic definition of a leader reflects on doing what's right even when the majority may not. Although choosing Susy over Suzie is not a daunting task, I believe that as McConnell Scholars (or others that read this blog) go in...

If confident in their passage of health care legislation, Democrats would be willing to maintain the debate so that in due time its merits would be solidified to voters throughout their public defense. Some would argue that the debate rests when the people’s representatives make a decision through their duly elected offices. However, it is important to note that the United States is a democratic republic. The description of “republic” with the adjective “democratic” implies that democracy is the sole attribute of our republic. It is through demos, the people, which the republic is defined and given character. Or, are we henceforth to be a republican democracy? Is the republic defining the democracy in its own terms? With such a close margin of dissent regarding healthcare, the Democrats in Congress used an unorthodox method to pass health care legislation around the objections of democratically elected representatives from the opposition party. The Founders spoke of the importa...

Some words of wisdom from my personal hero. This is more or less an insight into the way I attempt to view the world, so those of you that are perhaps confused with where exactly my thought process comes from, here you go. "The truth may be puzzling. It may take some work to grapple with. It may be counterintuitive. It may contradict deeply held prejudices. It may not be consonant with what we desperately want to be true. But our preferences do not determine what's true." "The choice is with us still, but the civilization now in jeopardy is all humanity. As the ancient myth makers knew, we are children equally of the earth and the sky. In our tenure of this planet we've accumulated dangerous evolutionary baggage — propensities for aggression and ritual, submission to leaders, hostility to outsiders — all of which puts our survival in some doubt. But we've also acquired compassion for others, love for our children and desire to learn from history and experien...

In a (somewhat desperate) bid to secure my tier status for this semester, I'm going to write a brief review of Anthem, the acclaimed political novella by objectivist author and nigh-on libertarian demigoddess Ayn Rand. To begin with, I'll say that I approve of neither the author nor her philosophies. She was a flagrant and unapologetically self-interested elitist who generally expressed nothing but contempt for the common people and their most cherished beliefs; the only thing she despised more than religion was charity. That having been said, Anthem is phenomenal literature. The plot is well crafted and thought provoking, the struggle of the protagonist against the oppression of the state is compelling, and the 11th chapter is the single most rousing political manifesto I've ever read - easily the finest document ever rendered in support of objectivism or any other 20th century philosophy. Although the vessel might be beautiful, however, the draught is bitter. While I can ...

As students prepare for their exams and look back at all that they have learned this semester and this year, I look back as well. I am looking back to all the amazing opportunities and experiences and that have been given to me my freshman year by The McConnell Center and The University of Louisville. College brings more than just classes and hard work for freshmen. Along with transitioning into collegiate work, freshmen also have to transition into a lifestyle away from home and a new social setting that is different from anything they have ever experienced before. For me, I barely knew anyone coming to the university and would have had a difficult time transitioning had it not been for one thing, The McConnell Center. It is more than just a scholars program giving scholarships and scholastic opportunities equal to those of Ivy League institutions, it is a place to meet some of the greatest people at the university and truly expand your understanding of so many different kinds of ...

With Secretary Clinton coming to visit this past week, I found myself reflecting on all the notable speakers I have gotten a chance to meet in my four years at the center. I have been privileged to meet Lynn Chaney, George W. Bush, Chief Justice Roberts, Harry Reid, John McCain, Former president of India Dr. Kalam, and now Hillary Clinton. On top of the most notable speakers I have also gotten a chance to meet top leader at Yum! Jonathan Blum at a KFC Dinner at headquarters, Jerry Abramson at a lunch in the U-Club , Martha Lane Collins at the McConnell Center, and other notable speakers such as Attorney Generals, Governor’s Chief of Staff, local politicians, philosophers, authors, and quest professors. Although I know some of the speaker’s names have escaped me, the above list gives a very good overview of the personalities I have got a chance to encounter. The reflection I have been encountering the past few week has been on each of these speakers’ personalities and charisma. I do...

I was unable to attend the Cry Wolf seminar but did in fact read the book. I really enjoyed Cry Wolf because the style reminded me of one of my favorite books, Animal Farm. The symbolism with the animals, 'no trespassing' sign, the farm in itself, and the use of democracy in the society of the farm animals was highly effective. Political satire and the use a metaphors is such a great way gain an audience and to get your views across to the general public. It would not surprise me if Cry Wolf was taught in the classroom along side Animal Farm as a great political literary piece. Cry Wolf really reminded me of the 'fire' that democracy really is. It is a beautiful and entrancing thing but when put in the wrong hands or when it spreads too far it can become one of the most devastating things known to mankind. In the end, the animals that were originally on the farm were over taken by rodents and forest animals but the new animals wouldn't have been there in the first p...

Before coming to the McConnell Center I had never read any of Plato's writings before. I was nervous about reading The Symposium, but after finishing it I was highly pleased with what I had read. Instead of finding literature that was too deep for me to understand or too boring for me to appreciate I was pleasently surprised with an action packed and entertaining story. The characters were lively and wise and the plot was sharp and amusing. My favorite aspect of The Symposium was each characters view of love and its place in society. I found this part to be applicable and appealing to even our society today. Phaedrus sees love as inspiring a lover to earn the admiration of his lover by showing bravery on the battlefield because nothing is more shameful than to be seen by their beloved committing some inglorious act. Eryximachus notes that love has total power and is the ultimate source of happiness. He also states that love enables people to be associates, friends, and have relatio...

Obviously this isn't going to be my only contribution.

One of the differences I noticed between 'Looking Backward' and other utopian and dystopian novels that we have read this semester was the simplicity of the plot line. While reading the first several chapters I was slightly surprised at the minimal amount of details included in Bellamy's story. But after a little bit of analiysis I realized that Bellamy was not using this novel to entertain or satisfy someone in the 19th century's need for science fiction- he was using it as a vehicle for his thoughts on economic and and social reform. Bellamy was warning the society that he lived in of what could come. Once we had our seminar with Dr. Butler I found that my ideas on the book were definitely true. Butler commented on 'Looking Backward' as Bellamy's tool for transporting his ideas to the citizens of the United States in 1888. Bellamy achieved his goal of reaching the general public because 'Looking Backward' was the third-largest bestseller of its tim...

What's up? I'm bored and have nothing politically relevant to say. Knowing that that never stopped me before, I'm going to publish a suite of poems about wolves. They are called, respectively, Wolfsong, Moonsong, and Nightsong, and were written every one by me. Wolfsong When summer’s laughing creek in silence sleeps, Its timeless water hard as any stone, And billows gauche like steam against clear air, The breath of sleek-furred cervids as they roam Through buried fields or at the sprawling feet Of slumbering trees, denuded to the last Of Autumn’s leaves, in vain perhaps to seek, From frozen bark and snow-bound shoots repast That’s when the sky is opal with the glow That makes the hunters’ golden eyes delight In sun-loosed rays on deep, new-fallen snow, Reflected in the sacred eye of night That from on high descend to white-clad earth And paint in shades of blue and white and grey, The low-walled valleys of the nevean plain That mark the footfalls of their fleeing prey Thou...

I realize, friends, that many of you might want to know a bit more about the Celts so as to better bask in the proverbial glow of their excellence. No? Well it's here just the same. I did my homework on this one, children - I even cited sources! I think you'll like it if you read it, but be fore-warned: if length were a contest, and prose were more concretely masculine and procreative, no one but Shiva could scoff at this post. Get it? It's convoluted for a joke, but such is truth. Read on. The Celts are an Indo-European people who became culturally and genetically distinct from other Caucasian ethnic groups around 1200BC. [Littleton] The first Celtic culture in the archeological record is that of the Hallstatt people – a group of Celtic tribes that lived in Germany from around 1000 to 600BC (conveniently called the Hallstatt period of Celtic history). The Hallstatt Celts were characterized by their brightly colored clothing, skillfully crafted weapons, and iron-wrought ves...